International
Operations
Concurrent with the extensive development of highways in the United States, the Federal Highway Administration and its predecessors have traditionally carried out a number of important projects and operations in the international field. Three of the major international efforts undertaken have been the Alaska Highway, the Inter-American Highway, and a continuing technical assistance program to foreign countries. Also, with transportation research assuming an increasing international importance in recent years, the international exchange of information and the coordinated multinational development of transportation research has become an important function in the research and development programs of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
In its international operations, the FHWA cooperates with major financial and developmental institutions, such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the Department of State through its Agency for International Development (AID). In addition, foreign contacts have been established through international technical seminars and technical forums sponsored by such groups as the International Road Federation and basic engineering societies.
Perhaps the two best known projects the FHWA has worked on outside of the United States are the Alaska Highway and the Inter-American Highway. The Alaska Highway was an urgent World War II undertaking, requiring slightly over 2 years to construct, while the Inter-American Highway, begun about 1930, has only recently been completed with a paved surface. Just south of the southern terminus of the Inter-American Highway, the Darien Gap Highway is now under construction as a final link between North and South America. Neither of these endeavors has been the sole responsibility of the FHWA, but in both instances, the FHWA has been the prime motivator on the technical aspects of the undertaking. The greatest contribution to world transportation has been FHWA’s technical assistance programs in many countries around the globe.
Early International Exchanges
Today it is common to think in terms of global events and places, but near the turn of the 20th century, American engineers were already very much aware of the events and technological advances abroad. With the clamor for roads growing constantly stronger in the 1890’s, the Department of State initiated a project to gather information concerning European road laws and methods of construction. This information was a factor in stimulating the Congress in 1893 to establish in the Department of Agriculture the Office of Road Inquiry.
One of the first published studies of the Office was Cost of Hauling Farm Products in Europe. An international influence can also be seen in the 1901 Annual Report of the Office of Public Road Inquiries (OPRI). In the section on Testing of Road Materials, Director Martin Dodge stated “The importance of laboratory tests on road materials has long been recognized both in this country and in Europe. For over thirty years the national schools of roads and bridges of France have conducted careful tests of all materials used in the construction of National highways. These laboratory tests have been the means of
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